Mallorca Open preview
The snappily-titled Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca is this week's European Tour event, though many of the biggest names have opted to give the tournament a miss, conserving their energies for next week's BMW PGA Championship.
That leaves Soren Hansen as favourite for the competition, albeit a fairly long-priced favourite. But does the Dane really have what it takes to reign in Spain? At 50th in the world he's the highest-ranked player here, but as a closer Hansen isn't especially convincing; playing on the European tour since 1999, he's only picked up two tour victories in all that time, the last in 2007 when he won the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
Hansen is a more attractive proposition to be thereabouts rather than there, with four top 10 finishes this season already. If you've a hankering to back him, a wager on the 36-year-old to finish in the top 10, rather than as outright winner, seems the smarter play.
So with a field of 144 players in action, which players offer better value? Some are looking to Englishman Chris Wood to make his first win on the tour. The 22-year-old tied for third at the Italian Open on Sunday, his highest finish since he tied for third place at last year's Open at Turnberry.
Woods’ putting has let him down on occasion - were it not for some errant green play last week he could have won in Turin. But if the promising young player can rectify that one failing in his game he must surely be capable of going close at the p**a Golf Club this week.
In its previous incarnation as the Mallorca Classic, three different Spaniards won between 2003 and 2005. With a number of native players stepping up to contest the tournament this time round, could another local hero emerge?
Spain's Alejandro Cañizares is certainly another favourite here, though just the one win to his name, the 2006 Russian Open, suggests he's not the most reliable of players. That said, Cañizares finished respectably at the Italian Open, tying for 10th place, and a week earlier he was tied for third place at the Spanish Open. Of the natives taking part, Cañizares looks the likeliest victor - but there are other possibilities.
The out-of-sorts Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is one, though with just one top ten finish so far this year he's not exactly a banker. Jose Manuel Lara could offer more value, having played well here in the past, even if he's been disappointing this season. Nonetheless Lara likes this course, having finished second and third here in recent years, and could be worth a small punt to finish in the top 10 (my safety-first approach to punting might not reap huge rewards, but at least you'll get something if the pick performs adequately).
But what the hey, let's go for something a little more left-field. Noh Seung-yul has already won this year, at the Maybank Malaysian Open (not the most glamorous of events, admittedly). Still just 18 years old, the South Korean is clearly a decent player, beating recent Masters contender KJ Choi at the Maybank with a birdie on the 18th. That audacious win suggests the teenager has the composure to stay in control when the pressure is on.
Noh also tied for 4th place at the Ballantine's Championship in Thailand two weeks ago, so he's in good form too; the only doubt is whether he can perform outside of his comfort zone, away from the Asian Tour. Nevertheless, for me he's worth a small flutter, at least to finish in the top 10.
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